Today we devoted our time to explore the quaint town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. This is a beautiful, but pricey, town just below 17 Mile Drive and the famous Pebble Beach Golf Links where the 2019 U.S. Open was played. This is also the town where Clint Eastwood was Mayor for four years.
Carmel adjoins the Pacific, perhaps technically Monterey Bay. The beach is fine, white sand and the water is a contrasting deep blue. Aside from the myriad of shops and restaurants populating the town, we found exploring the different residential areas to be fun...

Alas, the movie clip I took of Sandy feeding her new friends, the same squirrels from yesterday, is too large to attach. So fear not, Sandy made a valiant effort to make a bunch of new furry friends!
We went back to Hearst Castle for a second tour of the Upstairs Suites, which was well worth the cost and effort. I mention the latter because one has to walk a great number of stairs to see all the rooms. Prior to starting the tour, I spied what turned out to be a 2,000+ year old Roman sarcophagus merely sitting in a small courtyard. The guide...

We arrived at our motel in Carmel after driving through some very posh residential areas. In the evening we drove into Carmel in search of food – everywhere was fully booked but we did happen upon a Mediterranean restaurant where we ate well! The mayor of Carmel is Clint Eastwood, who has banned neon signs, traffic lights, house numbers, live music and (for some reason) stiletto heels.
Carmel is a very expensive and sedate place.
We stayed in a great little 1930's 'cabin'.

This morning we picked up our hire car and drove north along the California Coast, using the Pacific Coast Highway. It was an amazing drive with the cliff top and the Pacific Ocean on the left and National Park on the right. The scenery was spectacular.
We stopped briefly at Santa Barbara and Hearst Castle along the way. As Stu and I were driving along, singing
to The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and KC and the Sunshine Band, we felt we should be doing this drive in some flashy convertible rather than the Tarago, with 4 kids in the back. We might...

We are now in Carmel after an early start from Anaheim, goodbye theme parks and hello gorgeous central Californian coastline.
Stopped for a yummy breakfast in Santa Barbara where we have finally realised (after nearly a week!) that if the kids order waffles or pancakes for breakfast, that we should order only 1 serve, as like everything in the US - the servings are huge!
Had few hours after that in the car and then stopped for a tour of Hearst Castle - an amazing, opulent, grandiose 165 room mansion, sitting at the top of a hill on it's 127...

A friend following this blog (who incidentally recently acquired a stunning new Ferrari California) told me the other day that he loves Monterey because of what a spiritual place it is. He's right, and it's hard to describe the vibe in the area without experiencing it. It's a very, very special place indeed. Personally, I think it is the sunset - there is nothing like the majesty of a sunset on 17-Mile Drive and tonight's was a perfect example. But what doesn't need any description is that whatever Monterey is in terms of spirituality, LA...

Finally got out of San Francisco late this morning after getting lost in our rental car in the city! We were hoping that the weather would improve the further away we got from San Francisco, and the temps get a little higher, but not to be, we hardly saw the sun on our 3 1/2hr drive South on Highway 1 (which is the coastal road) having stopped at Santa Cruz for lunch on the way, which was a much larger town than what we thought.
Carmel is a quaint little town, very pretty with lovely buildings and tree-lined streets, and inundated with...

Immediately south of the city of Carmel is one of the most beautiful and inspiring state parks in California-Point Lobos. Words and pictures could never describe this unique work of nature. This is a must visit place.
We hiked 5 3/4 miles as we walked the trails which circumnavigated the park. Several prominent points jut into the pacific and each provides a new and unique vista. Vistas which are candy for the eye and inspiration for the soul. Flowers of all colors and types decorate the surfaces of rocks in defiance of logic-How could...

So after Hearst castle, it was North again on Hiway 1, or the Pacific Coast Highway. As it turns out, Lester Holt from the Today show did a piece on the PCH from Carmel to Cambria, and we may may have passed him that day.
The coastline is like no other. Steep climbs lead up to awsome cliffs running right down to the ocean to white sandy beaches. The road curves its way up and around beutiful mountains too. Big Sur was a neat little mountain town. We ended up at the Carmel RV in the evening, and the weather was cold (50) and damp. The lady...

Monday, April 5, ride around Pebble Beach and walk on Carmel beach. Sunny and high of 59. I’m very surprised that I was able to say today was sunny. The weatherman last night said rain for today, and it rained very hard last night, but we woke up to no rain. Then, as we ate breakfast the sun broke out and stayed out all day. Although cool and breezy this morning, the breeze stopped and the temperature went up about 10 degrees. In my book that was about perfect. Anyway, due to the coolness this morning, we decided to hold the beach walk...

Sunday, April 4, trip to Carmel. Cloudy until mid-afternoon, then light rain with high temperature of 59. We decided to take route 1 to Carmel. Yes, it is a lot slower thus time wise longer, but it’s right on the coast and so beautiful. This 125 mile trip was always in view of the ocean. Most of the time, we were hundreds of feet above the ocean looking down a cliff on our left, as we headed north. Just imagine a steep mountain several thousand feet high right next to the ocean, then someone building a road on the ocean side of it that is...